Guides protest in central Athens against tourism ministry bill

A strike is taking place in the central square of Athens, Syntagma, announced by the Panhellenic Federation of Guides. Guides are protesting against the adoption by the Ministry of Tourism of a bill that, according to guides, leads to an even greater “degradation of the profession.”

“We gathered in Syntagma Square because the profession of a guide has been degraded. According to a new law that is to be adopted, the activity of a guide is limited to closed places, such as museums. This means that anyone who wants to will be able to conduct excursions outside closed places without having undergone the appropriate training. But culture is not only museums. On a tour we talk about a variety of topics, about the economy, everyday life, culture, and interact with tourists,” says tour guide Lidiya Levandovskaya.

The Minister of Tourism reduced the proposed modernization of the tourist product to the complete legalization of illegal tours carried out by all sorts of unqualified people who declare themselves “escorts.” These can be a variety of people – from simple employees accompanying groups to simple drivers who “accompany” tourists during their stay in our country. With the signature of Kefalogiannis and the seal of the Mitsotakis government, Greece becomes the first and only European country where literally anyone can accompany tourists, as long as they accompany them!

Andreas Lazaridis, a diplomatic guide and member of the board of directors of POXEN, told the publication documentonews.gr: “The purpose of today's protest is our general disagreement with the bill that is passing in the House of Representatives and presented by Mrs. Kefalogianni. This bill deconstructs and limits the work of guides in monuments, museums, and closed areas. At a time when our work is much broader and more multifaceted beyond monuments and museums and is recognised throughout Europe by travel agencies and our colleagues abroad. We do not understand why this restriction is being introduced through a new definition of profession. We are told about modernization… What exactly does this modernization consist of? We ask ourselves, is it necessary because we were not doing our job? We did not carry out our work properly as defined in the 1977 law (Law 710/1977)”.

Statement from the Federation of Greek Guides

“The Ministry of Tourism is proposing to Parliament to adopt a bill that attempts to 'modernise' the profession of a guide. Among other things, the proposed definition of a guide limits his work to closed and confined spaces, despite the fact that the history, sights and culture of Greece are not “closed”. At the same time, the efforts and proposals of guides to strengthen control over illegal excursions are not listened to and the work of the School of Guides is even belittled.

Guides from all over the country expressed their disagreement and protest against such “modernization” from the very first moment. And despite repeated discussions with the Ministry of Tourism, despite the development of our positions in the relevant committee of the Parliament, despite any attempts at rapprochement, there are significant points of divergence, so that, in the last five minutes after the adoption of the bill, guides are in confusion, since there are no guarantees for the quality of guide services and for the future of the guide profession.

Modernization of legislation on tour guides in a country where tens of millions of tourists visit every year cannot mean a deterioration in the quality of their work. In the name of “competitiveness” one cannot replace tour guides with “accompaniments”. Working as a guide without serious training, without education, without experience, without protection of the concept and profession is impossible. Therefore, we once again speak out against the belittling of our profession and its replacement with the services of people who are not suitable for it, and we call on:

1. to recognize the multidimensionality and diversity of the role of the guide-interpreter through our proposals for its definition.
2. quality education and training of guides: raising the level of guide schools, reducing the maximum possible annual number of two-month accelerated seminars and eliminating the possibility of their implementation by Continuous Education Centers.
3. Combating the phenomenon of illegal excursions

Even at the last minute, we call on the Ministry, the Government and the Greek Parliament to take the initiative and practically recognize the importance of the profession of a guide, who is literally a living representative of Greece for its visitors.

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